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The bad news for John Danks? Today's loss marred his record (4-14) and ERA (4.75) further.
The good news? It could've been worse. At least the ERA, anyway.
The Twins peppered Danks for three runs on seven hits through two innings as he had major problems keeping the ball down. The contact was firm and plentiful, as Danks only induced one swing and miss over his first 43 pitches. Moreover, he only retired five batters -- Josh Phegley threw out Oswaldo Arcia after a pitch in the dirt for the final out of the first.
Based on how he looked through two innings, it seemed unlikely that Danks would be able to finish five innings. But he regrouped and turned in seven innings by retiring the last 16 batters he faced, and 11 on groundouts, which is highly uncharacteristic this season.
It was a valiant effort, and one that was nearly rewarded by the White Sox offense, which took its time figuring out Scott Diamond.
Diamond faced the minimum through three innings, as Leury Garcia's two-out single in the third was erased by a thwarted stolen base attempt. Alejandro De Aza would have to wait until the fourth inning to put the Sox on the board, as he led off with a homer on a full-count high fastball, his 16th of the year.
Jordan Danks tried to rally for his brother in the seventh, following a Paul Konerko walk and a Marcus Semien double with a two-run single through the right side, narrowing the lead to 4-3.
The Sox wouldn't be able to find that run, and it made a baserunning mistake by Phegley in the sixth inning loom larger. He doubled off Trevor Plouffe's glove to start the inning. Garcia followed with a grounder to the left side, and for some reason, Phegley tried to take third. It wasn't a smart move, and he was tagged out. Garcia was eventually able to get to second on an error by Brian Dozier, but a pair of flyouts left two runners stranded.
Bullet points:
*Danks only threw 96 pitches over seven innings despite the inefficient start, and he didn't walk anybody.
*Garcia made a nice play in short right field that required serious range to his left, although his throw to first could've killed Paul Konerko if the baserunner were less compassionate.
Record: 60-92 | Box score | Play-by-play | Highlights